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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The Darkest Night - By Gena Showalter

SummaryThe lords of the underworld are immortal warriors that have served and fought for the king of the Greek gods [yep, this series is about Greek mythology]. When the lords are not chosen to protect the magical box known as 'Pandora’s box' they become angry and vengeful towards the gods and decide to steal the box themselves and set the demons within it free. However, the box becomes lost and with the demons having nowhere to return to, the lords are punished and forced to become the hosts of demons such as wrath, pain , disease, violence and promiscuity forever. Having the evil voices of these demons within their heads has caused the warriors to not only become corrupted but even hopeless. In the present, these warriors live in a castle located in Budapest where they attempt to remain secluded and out of reach of the hunters trying to capture them.[These hunters wish to rid the world of evil so the lords, of course, are their main targets]

A look into the story: This first book is, of course, only an intro to the series. The warrior Maddox is made to be the main character of “The Darkest Night” and he is the host of violence. Each night he tries to fight against his demon’s desires to fight and kill anything in its path; which is what earned Maddox another punishment. After murdering Pandora the god’s decided that each night Maddox would be killed and sent to hell to be tortured, only to wake up in the morning and have to go through the same act the next night.

Ashlyn Darrow is a human who holds the power of clairaudience; she can hear voices and conversations in her head. Working for a company that deals in the paranormal she hears word of men who live in a fortress in Budapest who are angels, or demons and so Ashlyn goes to find them hoping they can help her with this power of hers. Those thoughts of hers soon change once she finds herself in the home of the cursed warriors; all men and all of them not wanting her there. All except Paris [keeper of promiscuity] who’s just looking for his next woman to sleep with. After witnessing the murder of Maddox Ashlyn angry towards these warriors and wishes for nothing else other than to see the man again; one of her reasons being that whenever she is with Maddox, the voices in her mind disappear and her mind can actually be at peace with him. Once the keeper of violence returns from his trip to hell there are a lot of questions Ashlyn wants answered but Maddox isn’t exactly sure how much he should let her know since he knows what’s at stake.

~Overall thoughts (4 out of 5 full moons)~

After reading through the first book, I did like the whole background story and plot. It did connect well to Greek mythology. The main idea that they’re paying for their deeds and having to get past their punishments definitely kept me interested and I think that Gena Showalter will expand on that idea with more characters and ideas. One thing that got to me a little was how quick Ashlyn and Maddox ‘wanted’ one another. The very first night Maddox was already claiming Ashlyn as his, saying in his mind “mine, mine to claim’ Sorry but…on the first night you want to possess a woman all to yourself?...I guess some people wouldn’t mind that. Even Ashlyn was quick to just want to be with Maddox; and after knowing him for only about ten minutes….maybe that’s what you can call ‘love at first sight? Or attraction at first sight if you’d prefer. Each character is interesting enough to keep me looking forward to the next books, I just hope that Gena Showalter will create more couples that I’ll become more entertained by. Nothing against Ashlyn and Maddox. Favorite Quote:..."oh gods" (simple enough yet fun to say)

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